July 24, 2013

The Quest for Orange

Before gel

Once again a nice shade of buttery yellow-that I looove, but it's not orange..

 This is yet another try at Happy Orange with my Annatto infusion. You know Happy Orange, that sort of yellow orange pureed carrot color.. I am on a mission to get that color for a soap I have in mind. I know I've seen people get it with Annatto, however admittedly, I tend to be light handed with color so maybe the next try I'll nail it. I thought I had it this time for sure-or maybe I need to switch over to the powder so the color is not so diluted as in an infusion. Oy!

Yellow or Happy Orange? What do you think? The Mister says yellow, I say almost Happy Orange.. help solve the debate. or maybe it's just wishing on my part.. I do think I'm getting closer though-don't you?
 
The results are in...buttery yellow I'd say. So, either I'm still not using enough Annatto or I need to try the powder (maybe my infusion is too diluted to get orange) I am loving the yellow and think I will use it in another soap I have planned for sure. If you want the perfect buttery yellow-an Annatto infusion is the way to go.

Question to those of you who get orange with Annatto-what am I doing wrong? Is it because I am not using the powder? Heeeeeelp!! Okay, someone gave me the scoop on how they do it, so once my Annatto seeds get here-operation "happy orange" is on.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Using annatto powder, you can get a whole range of yellows and orange - but you have to be very careful, as it goes a long way. For yellows, the tiniest pinch (and I mean tiny) is all that is needed, any more than that and your soap can end up a burnt orange colour that would take your eye out.

Soapchick said...

I love that buttery orange colour, and I do think it is orange, just a pastel orange! I reckon you need to make your infusion much stronger, go on, whack it in and see what happens!!

Jennifer Young said...

I put some annatto powder in the lye water and some more at trace and i get a nice orange. If I don't measure it correctly, it goes more browny (still orange) but usually get a lovely orange. Took a lot of experimenting for me to get the right orange. And it stays. xo jen

Tierra Verde Handmade Soap said...

@ Helen, Soapchick and Jen, thanks all for your input. One of my soaping buddies infuses oil and uses that oil as her batch, but it seems several people use it in their lye water which would actually be easiest once the amount is determined. I'm thinking I'll try that out and see.